Lingerie strap retainer



May 4, 1965 T. D'AMBROSIO LINGERIE STRAP RETAINER Filed July 10, 1963 INVENTOR Teresa DAmbrosio ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,181,214 LINGERIE ESTRAP RETAINER Teresa DAmbrosio, 170 W. 75th St., New York 23, N.Y. Filed July 10, 1963, Ser. No. 294,068 4 Claims. (Cl. 24-73) This invention relates generally to lingerie strap holders for womens apparel and more particularly to a device adapted for pinning to the underside of the shoulder portion of a dress or outergarment, said device being further securable to the shoulder strap of an undergarment whereby said shoulder strap is precluded against displacement with respect to the shoulder of the wearer.

More specifically, the primary desideratum of the instant invention resides in ahe provision of a lingerie strap retainer which will mutually secure the inner and outer garments against substantial lateral movement with respect to one another and which will nevertheless permit sufficient vertical movement therebetween to afford protection against discomfort due to tautness or undue restraint.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device capable of enabling expedient insertion of the undergarment shoulder strap and ready removal of the strap therefrom when such is desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device in accordance with the foregoing which includes a coupling element disposed between the outergarment pinning means and the shoulder strap holding means which will minimize lateral movement between either of said means.

Another general object of the present invention is to provide a device of the described character which will be simple in structure, economical of manufacture, easily and quickly installed in the shoulder portion of a womans dress and highly effective in use.

Other objects and advantages of the instant lingerie strap retainer will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice of the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the structure defined and pointed out in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate several embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principle of the invention.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the lingerie strap retainer, the safety pin element thereof being attached to the material of an outergarment and the loop member thereof having a shoulder strap received therein;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a retainer having a modified form of the loop member;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a retainer having a modified pivotal arrangement between the safety pin element and the loop member; and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are perspective views of further modified forms of the lingerie strap retainer.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the accompanying drawings, numeral 2 generally designates a safety pin, said safety pin being of conventional design and being comprised of legs 4 and 6, the former being movable with respect to catch 8 and secured as shown to fabric portion 10 of a lady's outergarment. Loop member 12 which is integrally formed of a single piece of sheet metal or other suitable material is comprised of cylindrical collar portion 14, the length of which is substantially equal to the length of leg 6, parallel side portions 16, 18, and bottom portion 29, said bottom portion being perpendicular to said side portions and having a space or split section 22 intermediate the length thereof, shoulder strap 24 being insertable through said space 22 and into the loop 26 defined by said collar, side and bottom portions for retention therewithin. Collar 14 being loosely mounted upon leg 16 is pivotally disposed thereabout while lateral movement of said collar with respect to said leg is nominal in view of the substantial equivalency of the lengths of said collar and leg.

In the modified construction illustrated in FIGURE 2, double link member 28 is formed of a single piece of flexible material such as cloth fabric or the like, said member being stitched at 30 to form a pair of tubular sections 32, 34, section 32 being pivotally received upon leg 36 of safety pin 38. As will be observed, the width of said double link member is substantially equal to the length of said leg 35, thus resulting in minimum lateral movement thereupon. Wire loop 40, comprised of side portions 42 and 48, respectively disposed in parallelism and top and bottom portions 50 and 52, respectively, also mutually parallel, is pivotally received through tubular section 34, said top portion 50, the pivotal connection, being substantially equivalent of length with respect to said tubular section. Said bottom portion 52 is provided with a space or split section 54 intermediate the length thereof.

With reference now to FIGURE 3 of the drawings, a modified embodiment of the invention most closely approximating the construction according to aforedescribed FIGURE 2 is disclosed. In lieu of the double link member 28, a cylindrical collar 56 is utilized to provide the pivotal conection between the loop 58 and the safety pin 6-9. Said collar, it will be appreciated, is characterized by a length substantially equal to the length of leg 62, the function of this feature being to minimize lateral movement of said collar upon said leg.

In the construction illustrated in FIGURE 4, a collar that is identical with the collar shown in FIGURE 3 is pivotally connected to leg 66 of pin 68. Substantially rectangular loop 7t] depends pivotally of said collar as shown, said loop being practically identical to the loop of FIGURE 3, the distinction therebetween being that side portion 72 is formed of upper and lower sections 74 and 76, respectively, said sections being disposed in linear relation, space or split section 78 being included therebetween. End 86 of said upper section 74 is bent inwardly of said rectangular loop 70 to serve as a guide for inserting the shoulder strap into the loop area 82.

The modification illustrated in FIGURE 5 of the drawings is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1 insofar as concerns the integral construction of the rectangular loop and the pivotal connection thereof with respect to the leg of the safety pin. To that end it will be observed that substantially rectangular loop 84 is formed of side portions 86 and 88 and top and bottom portions 90 and 92, respectively, said top portion being convoluted to form eye members at 94 and 96, said eye members being pivotally wound around leg 98. of safety pin 100, said top portion being further characterized as being of a length substantially equal to the length of said leg 98 of the safety pin. Space or split section 102 is shown provided intermediate the length of said bottom portion, the shoulder strap being insertable into the loop area 104 through said space.

It will be appreciated that in each of the above-described embodiments the side portions of the respective loop members are spaced substantially the width of the shoulder straps commonly provided with undergarments, thereby precluding lateral movement of the strap subsequent to insertion thereof into the loop area of the device. Also, as aforedescribed, the lateral movement of the loop member with respect to the leg upon which it is pivotally connected, is similarly restricted, dislocation of the shoulder strap or movement thereof with respect to the wearers shoulder being minimized. Vertical movement, however,

of the outer-garment with respect to the strap is permitted by virtue of the pivotal connection between the leg and the loop member, thus precluding tautness or immobility between the outer and inner garments.

Although various embodiments of the lingerie strap retainer have been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various changes may be made in the forms, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, and as generally stated the invention consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A lingerie strap retainer comprised of a member adapted to be detachably secured to a flexible fabric, said member having a leg substantially the length thereof, a collar mounted upon said leg, said collar being pivotable about said leg, and a loop depending integrally of said collar, said loop having a bottom portion parallel with respect to said collar, said bottom portion having a split section along the length thereof, whereby a lingerie strap is receivable through said space and retainable upon said bottom portion.

2. A lingerie strap retainer comprised of a member adapted to be detachably secured to a flexible fabric, said member having a leg substantially the length thereof, a double link member formed of a pair of parallel tubular sections, a loop member having opposed, spaced and parallel top and bottom portions, said top portion being pivotally received within one of said tubular sections, said bottom portion having a split section along the length thereof, and the other of said tubular sections being pivotally mounted about said leg, whereby a lingerie strap is receivable through said split section and retainable upon said bottom portion.

4 3. A lingerie strap retainer comprised of a member adapted to be detachably secured to a flexible fabric, said member having a leg substantially the length thereof, a

cylindrical collar pivotally mounted upon said leg, said collar being substantially the length of said leg, a loop depending pivotally of said collar, said loop having parallel side portions spaced a distance substantially equal to the length of said collar, and top and bottom portions, said bottom portion having a split section along the length thereof, whereby a lingerie strap is receivable through said split section and retainable upon said bottom portion.

4. A lingerie strap retainer comprised of a member adapted to be detachably secured to a flexible fabric, said member having a leg substantially the length thereof, a wire loop having side portions and top and bottom portions, said top portion being convoluted at the opposing ends thereof to form eye members being spaced substantially the length of said leg, said bottom portion having a split section along the length thereof, whereby a lingerie 20 strap is receivable through said split section and retainable upon said bottom portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner. 35 

1. A LINGERIE STRAP RETAINER COMPRISED OF A MEMBER ADAPTED TO BE DETACHABLY SECURED TO A FLEXIBLE FABRIC, SAID MEMBER HAVING A LEG SUBSTANTIALLY THE LENGTH THEREOF, A COLLAR MOUNTED UPON SAID LEG, SAID COLLAR BEING PIVOTABLE ABOUT SAID LEG, AND A LOOP DEPENDING INTEGRALLY OF SAID COLLAR, SAID LOOP HAVING A BOTTOM PORTION PARALLEL WITH RESPECT TO SAID COLLAR, SAID BOTTOM PORTION HAVING A SPLIT SECTION ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF, WHEREBY A LINGERIE STRAP IS RECEIVABLE THROUGH SAID SPACE AND RETAINABLE UPON SAID BOTTOM PORTION. 